Minolta Company, Ltd.

Lexmark International, Inc.

Yasushi Tsuda

Hirofumi Hasegawa

Narutaka Yoshida

John E Passafiume

Nobuhiko Kita

Yuzuru Sugimoto

Joho Katsuo

Thomas Howard Miller

Paul Allen Rooke

In the present invention, a winder shaft of a toner supplying device and that of an imaging cartridge are coupled with gears, and a lock lever for locking rotation of gears is provided with the toner supplying device. Moreover, only when the imaging cartridge is attached to the toner supplying device, the lock lever is set released by a rib disposed for the imaging cartridge, whereby removals of seals for the toner supplying device and the imaging cartridge is made feasible. Thus, without accompanying fear that the seals are removed during storage, toner supplying device can be attached so as to supply toner when a toner in the imaging cartridge is used up.

Replaceable developer supplying device and replaceable imaging cartridge

An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive member, a developing unit which is removably installed in a body of the image forming apparatus, a shutter covering a developing region of the photosensitive member when the developing unit is removed from the body of the image forming apparatus and a cleaning member capable of cleaning the surface of the photosensitive member in accordance with rotation of the photosensitive member by making contact with the photosensitive member in conjunction with the shutter covering operation, but which does not contact the photosensitive member when the shutter is open. During a control operation, foreign matter such as used developer adhered to the photosensitive member is removed when the photosensitive member is rotated with the shutter closed.

Image forming apparatus having process cartridge with shutter and

Growing community of inventors

Toyokawa, Japan

Yasushi Tsuda